1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus having a movable grip portion and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electronic camera such as conventional digital cameras is equipped with an image display unit such as a liquid crystal monitor in the rear face of the electronic camera body, and is provided with a grip portion for facilitating the grasping of the electronic camera, arranged at a location corresponding to a predetermined part of the hand of the photographer grasping the camera.
Due to rapidly advancing technology innovations in recent years, while there have been advances in weight and size reduction of the electronic camera, attempts have been made to enlarge the image display unit to improve the visibility of the photographing screen and to facilitate the operation of the operation screen (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-289484).
However, downsizing the electronic camera as well as enlarging the image display unit will inevitably result in an increase in the area proportion of the image display unit to the rear face of the electronic camera. Thus, a problem arises in that the proportion of the grip portion is reduced and this makes it difficult to grasp the electronic camera such as during photographing.